End-stage renal disease(ESRD) is a late-onset multifactorial disease that primarily occurs in a small subset of patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension or chronic glomerulonephritis. ESRD incidence is rising with an annual mortality of about 20% in incident cases. ESRD clusters in families and familial aggregation is a more powerful predictor of whether an individual with diabetes mellitus, hypertension or chronic glomerulonephritis will develop ESRD. However, no particular genetic mechanism responsible for the renal function damage that ultimately leads to ESRD has yet been identified.